


To The Victor

by luceluceluceluce



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Science Fiction, other pairings to be added later, rating and warnings are subject to change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-07
Updated: 2013-01-07
Packaged: 2017-11-24 00:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/628420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luceluceluceluce/pseuds/luceluceluceluce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After months of travel, Dave, John, Jade and Rose have reached Alternia, and are ready to use their fresh military training against the infamous trolls. However, the tides have turned, and they find themselves captured and plunged into a world of murderers, thieves, and outcasts. Suddenly, their sworn enemies are their only hope of survival.</p><p>[On hiatus until further notice.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	To The Victor

**Author's Note:**

> My first attempt at a sort of sci-fi adventure fic. More pairings, characters, and tags will be added later on, and the rating is very likely to go up.  
> Likely to be pretty long, so hope you all enjoy!

The ship came out of warp with a bang and a shudder, and Dave woke to the uncomfortable feeling of his bodily organs sloshing around.

He stood in forced stillness within the warp pod, entirely blind, for what seemed like an age. Silence pressed in around him with almost tangible force, causing his heart to pound far too loudly in his ears. As he waited, he could feel the sub-light engines power up, sending vibrations trembling through his fingertips.

Finally, just as Dave was beginning to wonder if he had been forgotten about, there were a series of soft clicks. With a sudden whoosh of air, the metal case of the pod swung open. Instantly, there were quick, efficient hands detaching Dave from the various support systems.

“How are you feeling, sir?” Came a crisp woman’s voice, and Dave forced his gunked-together eyes open only to be instantly blinded by the light.

“As if I’ve been locked in a metal ooze-coffin for three months,” he croaked.

“That would be accurate, sir.” Dave felt a hand on his arm, and he followed it blindly, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. He tried opening his eyes again, and, after much blinking and squinting, was finally able to bring the room into focus.

The ceiling was low and curved, with metal pods lining either wall. The woman in front of him- an unfamiliar woman with a blonde ponytail and neatly ironed uniform- was checking his heart rate with a small stethoscope.

“Did I live?” Dave asked, and promptly burst into a coughing fit.

“Hold on, sir,” the woman said calmly, slipping her stethoscope away. “You’ll probably want something to drink before you try talking again.”

Dave managed to catch himself before he replied and simply nodded, standing in uncomfortable silence as the woman went on to take his pulse, shine a flashlight in each of his eyes, and peer down his throat. At last, she slid her various tools away, satisfied.

“You’re perfectly fine, sir. I’ll take you to your quarters- it’s advised that you sleep for at least eight hours after exiting a pod in order to allow your body to adjust back to sub-warp time.”

Dave gave her a silent thumbs up, and she led the way toward the cabins. Dave almost told her that he knew where it was already, but thought better of it- his legs were feeling fairly noodle-like, and he wasn’t actually sure he knew which way he was going.

“You’re the first of your team to be woken,” the woman continued. “You’ll have plenty of time to meet with the others before we reach Alternia.”

Dave nodded, and broke his silence before he could stop himself. “How long ‘till we’re planetside?”

“We should reach orbit in about 70 hours, sir.”

Dave nodded. “When are you waking the others?”

“Right away, sir.”

“Don’t suppose you’ve got word of how things are going yet, have you?”

The woman shook her head. “Now that we’re sub-warp, the reports should be pouring in. Your team will be filled in on everything once you’ve recuperated.”

“Right,” Dave muttered, as they reached the entrance to the cabins. Dave barely remembered the one he had been designated to- he had spent only a few days living in it before relocating to the pod for the majority of the journey. It was one of the larger cabins, but still depressingly basic- a bed, a tiny wallscreen, a space for his trunk. Dave allowed himself to collapse onto the bed as the woman activated the wallscreen and ordered for water and basic food.

“Eat,” she told him, “and then sleep. You’ll be called to your debriefing shortly, and get all the updates then.”

“Got it,” Dave sighed, flopping back onto the stiff sheets. The artificial gravity was on just a bit too high, and he could feel it wearing away at him.

He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he was woken by a sharp rap on the door. Dave sprang awake automatically, groping blindly for his sword and nearly punching his hand through the wall before he remembered where he was.

“Mnuh?” He mumbled coherently, as the door slid open to reveal an unfamiliar boy with a cart of food.

“Your food is here, sir,” he said, sounding vaguely amused. “Standard sub-warp fare. I was specifically instructed to ensure that you drink all of the water.”

“Great,” Dave groaned as he struggled to sit up, and the boy presented him with a simple plastic tray of water, vitamin pills and protein cubes. Dave’s stomach churned a bit at the sight, and he ignored the cubes to sip at his water instead. “So, any news?”

The boy who had delivered the food simply shrugged. “Reports have been coming in, sir, but I’m not cleared to know about them.”

“Right, right.” Dave prodded at the cubes- they seemed edible enough- and popped one into his mouth. He had to resist spitting it back out- it tasted like soggy graham cracker. With a reluctant swallow, Dave opened his mouth again. “How long have we been out of sub-warp for?”

“Only about half an hour, sir.” The boy fidgeted. “I don’t mean to rush you, sir, but I need to get the rest of the food delivered.”

“Wouldn’t wanna keep you from it.” Dave placed the vitamin pills on his tongue, downed them and the rest of his water in a single glup, and handed the tray back to the boy. He took them with a grateful smile and disappeared without another word. Dave waited until his footsteps had faded down the hallway before flopping back onto his bed, throwing an arm across his eyes.

Now that the worst of the post-warp exhaustion was past, his mind was whizzing far too quickly for sleep. He ran the various plans and attacks that had been drilled into his mind during training, repeating over and over again until they were just meaningless noises. He wished he had his sword to practice with, but weapons were strictly prohibited outside of the training room while on the ship.

Dave forced himself to relax and breathe slowly- a full night’s sleep was a leisure he likely wouldn’t be able to afford for much longer- but just as he was beginning to drift off, his wallscreen pinged loudly.

Groaning loudly, Dave sat back up. “What d’you want?”

“Hello, Dave,” came a familiar voice. Instantly, Dave jolted back to wakefulness, turning to face the screen. Framed in the camera was a girl with a pale face and slightly excessive purple makeup.

“Sup, Lalonde,” Dave replied, suddenly incredibly conscious of his grimy warp uniform and unwashed hair. He hadn’t bathed in over three months- no wonder the boy who brought his food had been eager to escape.

“I take it you made it through warp successfully?” Rose asked, smiling slightly. She was already dressed in her specialized uniform of bright orange, the golden sun emblem that represented her position emblazoned across her chest.

“Course I made it.” Dave shrugged in a way he hoped was casual. “A little bit of wormhole travel ain’t hardly enough to keep a Strider down.”

“Obviously,” Rose agreed. “In that case, I was hoping to arrange a bit of a reunion before debriefing. Something more informal, and involving several less assassination plots.”

“But you know I live for the assassination plots.” Dave held back a yawn, and nodded instead. “But yeah, I’ll be there in five. Egbert and Harley, too?”

“They’ll be here. See you then,” Rose gave a little wave, and with another loud ping, the wallscreen went black.

Dave sighed and ran a hand through his hair, forcing himself to his feet. He bent to his trunk and dug out his uniform, sliding out of his simple warp clothes and into the familiar red fabric. They settled around him like a second skin, the bright red gear stretching across his chest as both a symbol of power and of duty. He was bound, mind and body, to the army- he had been from the age of thirteen, and would be until his (likely far too early) death.

As a finishing touch, Dave slid his shades from the protective case at the bottom of his trunk- a peacemaking gift from a certain John Egbert, back from their early days at military training. They had been so young back then, just kids, yet somehow John had known that an extra layer of protection between himself and the world was just what Dave needed. Dave slid them onto his eyes, and the world took on a comfortingly dim tone.

Dave glanced at himself in the wallscreen- his hair had grown slightly shaggy during the three months of limbo, his face slightly more angular. Dave blinked at himself a few times before finally turning away, hurrying out of his cabin and down the hall toward the women’s quarters.

He found Rose’s room easily- the scent of tasteful flowery perfume drifted from within, and he could hear Jade’s voice from all the way down the hall. He lifted his hand to knock, but Rose’s voice cut him off.

“Come in.”

Dave obeyed, stepping into the cramped room and sliding the door shut behind him.

Instantly, there were arms around him, knocking him back a step. “Dave! I missed you so much!” Jade cried, burying her face in his chest.

“Whoa there.” Dave carefully extracted himself from Jade’s death grip. “I need that throat, Harley.”

“Oh shut up,” Jade laughed, but she stepped back. “I haven’t seen you in three months!”

“You were asleep for the entirety of those three months,” Rose put in from her seat on the bed.

“Still counts,” Jade argued, smoothing out her puffy black skirt. “You got taller, Dave!”

Dave shrugged, taking a seat on the bed next to Rose. “Egbert’s not here yet?” he asked, as if it weren’t already obvious.

“He is now,” Rose said, just as the door to her cabin burst open. A lanky figure dressed in blue appeared, accompanied by a gust of wind strong enough to blow Dave’s cape back.

“Hey everyone!” John grinned at them widely. “Am I late?”

“Hardly,” Rose said, smiling at him. “In fact, you’re just in time.”

“Awesome,” John grinned widely. “Oh man, I missed all of you so much!”

“You were asleep the whole time-” Dave began, but was cut off by a rib-crushing hug.

“You got tall!” John announced, giving Dave’s sides a painfull squeeze.

“Jesus fuck, between you and Harley, I’m gonna be dead before we reach Alternia,” Dave wheezed, pulling John’s arms away. John ignored him, turning to bestow equally enthusiastic hugs to both Jade and Rose.

At last, once hugs had been given and everyone had found a seat within Rose’s tiny cabin room, Rose called them all to order.

“How long until we reach orbit, Dave?”

“68 hours, 22 minutes, nineteen seconds,” Dave recited automatically. John giggled.

“So how long until our debriefing, then?”

“Just less than two hours,” Jade put in. “I asked.”

“Two hours?” Dave frowned. “I thought we were supposed to have a full eight hours of rest coming out of warp. Not as if we’d actually have had that anyway, thanks to Lalonde.”

Rose ignored him. “They pushed the debriefing forward. They want to talk to us as soon as possible- it’s not a good sign.”

“You think something’s gone wrong?” John asked. “All the reports from before warp were nothing but good news. We’d pushed them out of the capital just a week before we warped, remember?”

Rose shook her head slightly. “Plenty can change in three months. I have a feeling the tides have turned.”

“Yeah, well, knowing you, a feeling is more than just a feeling.” Dave folded his hands behind his head and leaned back onto Rose’s multiple embroidered pillows. “D’you have a feeling that the ship’s gonna get blown out of the air the moment we reach orbit? Because it’d be nice to know in advance.”

Rose sighed, a cross between exasperation and amusement. “Nothing quite so extreme. But I am fairly certain that it is not going well for us. I’d be on our guard.”

“How can we be on our guard on a ship?” John asked. “What, are the trolls gonna bust out of the walls and kill us all in our sleep?”

“Don’t joke about that!” Jade scolded, even though she was smiling. “We should be training! Ready for anything the minute we get there.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Rose said. “In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to-”

There was a sharp rap on the door, and all four jumped.

“Excuse me, miss, but you’re needed at debriefing,” came a voice.

Rose stood to open the door, revealing the same boy who had delivered Dave’s food earlier that day. He looked more than a bit surprised to find all four of them in the room.

“Now?” She asked. “They can’t possibly be calling on us yet, we came out of warp barely forty minutes ago.”

“Those were my orders, miss,” the boy stammered, and Dave felt almost sorry for him.

Rose paused a moment, and Dave could almost feel her thinking. It was John who finally broke the silence.

“Let’s go, then!” He bounced to his feet and grinned widely at the boy. “Where’s the debriefing at?”

“There’s a meeting room just off the bridge, sir,” The boy said, looking relieved to have an excuse to look past Rose.

“Let’s go, then,” John said firmly, and led the way out of the cabin. The rest fell in step behind him without a second thought, and together the four trooped down to the bridge.

 

The debriefing took place in a long, low-ceilinged room, bare except for a table, chairs, and a large, powered-down wallscreen. It was nearly empty as the four entered, except for a single familiar man in a pure white uniform.

“Welcome,” he said crisply, straightening his bright green bow tie.

“Doc Scratch,” Rose said by way of greeting, and they shared one of their tight-lipped smiles that never failed to make Dave feel like he was intruding on something.

He knew Scratch well- part of military training had included weekly head-shrinking meetings, to ensure that his young brain remained undamaged by the vast knowledge of war that was being poured into it. Rose had earned herself mild fame throughout the training camp when she posted a lengthy psychological profile of Doc Scratch on the public message board. Doc Scratch had replied by making a series of minor revisions to it.

“I trust the four of you made it through warp well? Please, do sit down.”

Dave took his seat between John and Rose, staring around the empty table. He nudged Rose with his knee.

“Something’s gone wrong,” he whispered.

“No shit,” she mouthed back, as Scratch returned to the head of the table.

“As you may have noticed, this is not a standard formal debriefing,” he said crisply, and though his tone was as even and formal as ever, he was speaking just a bit hurriedly. “Unfortunately, several circumstances have come up, and it was decided that I would take the task of debriefing the four of you while the others held a private meeting regarding other concerns.”

“Is everything okay?” Jade asked.

Scratch gave her a blank excuse for a smile. “Everything will be dealt with. However, some of the situations have changed. The trolls have retaken the capital, and pushed back with, ah, unexpected force. The aftermath has thinned our numbers significantly.”

“How significantly?” John asked, face sober for once.

Scratch paused for a moment before answering. “Communications with stationed ships are… spotty, at best. Many of the latest reports we have received are weeks or months old, and for several, communications have been cut off entirely.” Another pause. “As a result, we have been put in a bit of a delicate situation. We anticipated being able to restock ourselves from a supply ship, but our signals appear to be unable to pick up any response from supply ships that are supposedly in the area.”

Dave shared another glance with Rose. She frowned slightly at him before turning to Scratch. “What is the current course of action?”

Scratch straightened his suit again nervously. “That is a key topic in the meeting the others are currently attending, but there isn’t much we can do except enter orbit, attempt to contact the few ships in the area, and prepare for the worst.”

Dave finally broke his silence. “So what exactly is the worst, doc?”

Scratch stared at him for a long, silent moment. “I do not know,” he said at last. “New reports are still coming in- it is quite possible that we are overestimating the direness of the situation. However, in the chance that we aren’t… I suggest that you prepare yourselves.” Scratch looked around the group, making eye contact with each in turn. “That is all for now. You will be notified the moment further developments arise, but for now, I suggest you rest.”

The four stood as one, and Dave could feel Scratch’s eyes on the back of his head as they trooped out of the room. They were entirely silent on their way back through the ship- now that Dave was paying attention, he could see that many of the people they passed looked tense, hurried, and possibly even a bit panicked.

The moment the four had resettled themselves Rose’s room- splitting up into their separate cabins was not even mentioned as a possibility- John spoke up.

“So we’re pretty screwed.”

“We still have time before we reach orbit,” Jade countered. “Stuff might change by then!”

“Sixty-seven hours, forty-five minutes, two seconds,” Dave muttered.

“Yeah.” Jade gestured vaguely in his direction. “We’ve only been out of warp for a few hours, reports can still be coming in!”

Rose cleared her throat quietly, and they all turned to her instantly. “I do not have any fact to back up my claims,” she said calmly. “However, I feel that I am being entirely truthful when I say this: we are the only surviving ship on this side of warpspace.”


End file.
